Kehinde Wiley’s recreation of Jacques-Louis David’s famous ‘Bonaparte Crossing the Grand Saint-Bernard Pass’, both express the theme of power. Wiley, however, challenges the traditional canonical representations of power shown in David’s painting by altering the elements of composition, colour, fashion, and background and incorporates them with a modern twist of his own.

 

Though the composition is very similar and uses the traditional equestrian symbolism as a portrayal of power, there are small changes in positioning and facial expressions which produce different meanings. In David’s painting, the horse has a lighter face but the darker shadows on its legs and back give it a more sinister look. On the other hand, Wiley’s painting has a smoother texture giving it a more majestic look. In both paintings, the positioning of the arm and finger-pointing ahead shows a leader with a vision. Wiley, however, portrays a serious yet kind and welcoming expression of a black leader in contrast to David’s rather harsh and arrogant expression of a white leader. This is to break the stereotype of how society portrays black men as dangerous and violent.

 

The use of fashion and colour in the two paintings give us an insight into the culture and identity of the leaders. The repetition of yellow throughout Wiley’s piece, in the hues shadows and cape, give a warmer and friendlier feeling. Yellow and gold are mostly associated with wealth and power compared to David’s red cape which can be associated with blood and danger. Wiley dresses his man in modern streetwear influenced fashion including yellow Timberland boots, red branded wristbands, a white bandana and a loose camo pant-shirt combo. David dresses Napoleon in a fancy traditional military uniform. The clothing in Wiley’s piece represents black culture and challenges the predominantly white culture represented in portraiture, and awards power to a black man. Wiley also found his sitter by scouting the streets, the anonymity of the sitter challenges how portraiture was typically for monarchs and famous military leaders. Wiley added “WILLIAMS” which is the name of the sitter into the engraved rocks, positioning him with the powerful leaders.

 

The background has red and gold embellishments of a Baroque pattern and small white sperm swimming throughout it. The colour scheme represents power and royalty. Jacques-Louis David explored Napoleon being a powerful leader who overcame the treacherous Alps, playing on the idea of a man overpowering nature. In Wiley’s piece the alps are replaced with the baroque pattern which can show the sitter overcoming the challenge of racism and toxic masculinity. The tiny sperm which are scattered in the background is Wiley’s way of challenging hyper-masculinity present in traditional portraiture.

 

In this work, Wiley puts a black man in a position of power, this is a key part of his work as he aims to promote diversity in art. He uses the elements of design to make the subject powerful but more modern and approachable, something his viewers could connect to. He uses contrasting colours and smooth textures to make the figure look elegant and challenge the negative stereotypes, the powerful equestrian imagery and composition to show him as strong and powerful.